Down the rabbit hole with Luna Lapin softies

Oh my fur and whiskers! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late! […] For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!

/The white rabbit (in Alice in Wonderland)

A few years ago I wrote a book review on the sewing book Making Luna Lapin by Sarah Peel. The book was one that my mom bought and fell in love with, and from it she created a whole litter of bunny sisters and their friends. When I saw her first one I fell in love with these softies too, and I decided to make one as well, for myself. Hence we set out to craft “Luna Lapin” bunnies together. It was a nice crafty time with mom, and my Luna Lapin (which is her name) still sits on a shelf around here.

When I reviewed the book I think I mentioned that I had some WIP photos that I also wanted to share, that I couldn’t cram in that day. Then after that I also did more bunny crafting with mom and had a autumnal photo shoot with some of her later bunnies from 2019. I never got to sharing it all, because it was scattered all around and I… moved on.. So it’s been a while but because it is NaBloPoMo where I am trying to write a blog post every day through November, I thought it would be just fitting to go back for a while (in a few blog posts) and share aaall the photos (almost) from those days of madness. You don’t mind do you?

I mean if you hate cute softies look away, but otherwise…

Let’s just JUMP in!

My mom (who is a quilter and awesome crafter) and I (who loves all crafty things but mainly papers and art journaling) came together to sew. We love joint projects! Mom could have made me a bunny, she loves creating things for me, but I wanted to make my own bunny girl. And crafting together is also shared memories, time together, sharing materials and meeting to compare progress.

Instead of the fabric recommended in the book (which I think is wool felt), we both decided to use linen fabric. That’s why everyone in the bunny crew is made out of un-dyed linen fabric. I think it looks better, not as soft but just as pretty perhaps. You can use any fabric you like for the “skin”. The only patterned or colored fabric you need is for the details of inside the long ears and under the soles of the feet. I choose a green fabric with white flowers, thinking it would look great with a pink dress (and it did).

Mom works quicker than me and is more dedicated to her sewing, so she finished a couple of more bunnies while I was sewing my first together at home after we drafted parts one day in her sewing room.

Here are some WIP (work in progress) images:

I bought the glass eyes a long time ago, but then I never made any real big softies that those eyes would look good on. But Luna is a tall bunny girl, and I think they fit her perfectly, matching her ears so well. I don’t think many bunnies can say that, really.

I think the structure of a Luna Lapin reminds me a bit of the Tilde angel dolls that mom made one as well. Long bodies, arms and legs and different pretty dresses. When she created Christmas angels she ended up with a big choir that I loved documenting together, but with the Lunas she kept giving them away as gifts for her friends, so I never had the chance to photograph all of them together. But as you’ll see later this week, I did get to take some nice photos of a few that has since moved away from home.

I didn’t give any Luna Lapins away (sorry friends), because my bunny did not want to move out. She decided to stay put, even though the dress I made for her is not as pretty as the others. She got really cute knickers at least, because mom made her a pair before she even had her head straight (on):

My bunny girl doesn’t have an embroidered nose because I decided I didn’t want that. She is just a little smaller than my giant sock monkey, and they’re close friends already. But of course sock monkey Wendela is very jealous of Luna’s wardrobe. I always promised Wendela more clothes, but never got around to it even though I did knit her a little shawl. But still, I never said I was the most loving mother, just the best they will ever have. Ha!

At least I knitted a shawl for Luna Lapin that matches her ears and eyes so well:

I told her, if you’re a good girl and keep eating your greens, I will make you a dress as well. It did take a few days of waiting, but I managed that as well. Luna’s dress has the tiniest red and pink flowers, high neck and a little lace edge at the bottom. The patterns for all kind of clothes are also in the book.

My Luna simply said “It’s fine” after I gifted her (quite proudly) the home sewn dress, so I think she’s in her teenager face already. Maybe she told my mom, who might be her gran-bunny (?) that she wanted something a bit more cozy for staying at home in. Let’s see if she gets her wish granted…

I hope this was not too much cuteness to handle for one day.

In any case, I hope you’ll join me down the rabbit hole with this idea. Another Luna related post tomorrow.

Cheers.

This post is part of NaBloPoMo where I write 30 blog posts in November. Thanks for reading and leaving me a comment, that will help me finish this challenge. To follow along subscribe to blog posts via email or RSS. I also have a sweet Substack Newsletter about art, craft and creativity that you might want to sign up for so that we can keep in tough in the future. I’d love that. On instagram I’m @ihannas and on YouTube Studio iHanna. Take care and stay creative friends.

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